First ladies of Freestyle - Expose', by Robert Velasco

By Robert Velasco

I was fortunate to sit down and interview the amazing ladies from the Epic 80’s powerhouse group – Exposé. The three ladies, Gioia Bruno, Ann Curless and Jeanette Jurado are still going strong and keeping it fun and entertaining Exposé started their musical journey in the mid to late 1980s, becoming the first group in history to have four top ten hits on their debut album, surpassing records originally set by the Beatles and the Supremes. Some of the hits that shaped the soundtracks of our lives are -“Come Go with Me”, “Point of No Return”, “Let Me Be the One”, “Seasons Change”,” What You Don’t Know”, “When I Looked at Him”. I found myself backstage in the dressing room where Jeanette made me a cup of coffee, she’s a sweetheart.

We started our interview with:

“What do you a tribute to the band’s longevity to?

(A) -“Jeanette Jurado” … We truly enjoy it, music separate and apart was a huge part of our lives. The fun we have together and onstage, as you will see tonight almost feels like something that we have to do. I have a great home life but when I don’t perform it feels like something is missing. It’s a well-balanced life.

(A) – Gioia Bruno”…. I think its Murphy’s Law because when we first got together we were like. There is no way we’re going to be doing this, nobody knocked on wood

(A) – “Ann Curless”…. I free every single moment of this, I’m only here for the money. It’s like a marriage and good thing for us there are three of us so majority rules. We have a ballot and literal vote on everything. Did this tour just being Exposé… It’s not a tour we are just never stopping. It’s not a three hour tour it’s a 30 year tour, it just continues. The booking agency calls and we decide what we want to do. We all live far away from each other. None of us raises the white flag and we are OUT, we just give it space.

The industry has changed, is it good or bad?

(A) “Gioia”…. It gives a lot of artist a chance to get their music out there, a lot of opportunity, with that being said, they come and go and you never hear from them again. Back with us, there weren’t that many ways to get your music. Nowadays it comes from so many places.

(A) “Ann” – back when we started it was limited, no internet, barely cable. Now there is so much to choose from which is great but we had a captive audience.

(A) “Gioia” – it’s a singles world, not about the album

(A) “Jeanette”- the days of listening to an entire album is gone, you listen to the old Stevie Wonder album and you know all the songs and in which order the songs play in. Like Sergeant Pepper, you know each song and which ones follow, the order they play. Expose is and has been the soundtracks to so many people’s lives.

Which artists was it for each of you?

(A) Gioia – for me it was Carole King’s Tapestry, I would listen with my sister, between Ann and Carole – they taught me how to sing. They let me know that I had a voice.

(A) “Ann” – Linda Ronstadt, I use to live in Tuscan AZ. I would play her music so much; I would wear out the grooves in the record. As well as the band Heart, you talk about longevity, I just seen her out in Jones beach recently, just love her.

(A) ” Jeanette” … For me it was the Carpenters they were the best ever. Clear, beautiful. I remember sitting there listening to her and practicing her taking breaths. She holds that note for so long; I wanted to know how she did that, so I could hold my breath like Karen or Barbara Streisand. I would try to breathe like they did. Now everything is digitalized, they cut out the breaths.

What’s next for Expose?

(A) Exposé – New music as a group, we got a new band, new moves and a new stage show.

(A) “Gioia” – I got an offer to do a play but I’m not too sure yet it’s for Broadway but I’m still listening and reading it. Waiting to see if it’s the right fit for me, but if that’s the case – I do have two understudies.

(A) “Ann” – Well I have to say that I was offered to host a talk show (Gioia, she’s lying) (Jeanette, serious) of course not, I wasn’t offered a talk show, but I have all the time in the world, nothing but free time.

(A) “Jeanette” – Me? For me it solo writing and putting everything into this group that takes up the majority of the time. Our goal is to perform these songs that everyone’s heard but not to change them so much that they aren’t recognizable but just not the same thing every time and that’s what keeps people coming back to see Exposé.